What is everyone's understanding of how to control algae in planted tanks?

11131 Views 33 Replies 12 Participants Last post by BROMLaar, Feb 22, 2017

BROMLaar

Discussion Starter · Feb 19, 2017

When I first started planted tanks I always heard that the key to the planted tank is "balance", that you need to balance the light, co2, and fertilizer to make it so algae doesn't become a problem. Well I always never understood how to "balance" the planted tank because of all the conflicting views on what "balance" is.

When I thought balance I thought that you had to have everything exact and not have too much of one thing without getting more of the other while the EI method of dosing puts in enough liquid ferts to last a few days! So that completely threw me off because I thought too much nutrients grows algae.

And with the co2 I always understood to just keep it around 20-30 ppm so it's not like you have to change that and "balance" that with the others.

Then I finally found something that actually made sense and gave an actual reason why adding lots of ferts doesn't CAUSE algae. It said that algae spores are triggered by light and ammonia and only that, then that's when the spores transform into flagellates (I think that's what there called but tell me if I'm wrong) which are the stuff that we don't want and that we see grow. So it explained that keeping healthy and growing plants will make sure you don't have ammonia spikes from decaying plant matter. After finding out this information it became so much more clear as to why we do the things we do to keep algae at bay instead of just saying "oh we just need to keep the tank in balance because that's what everyone says you need to do to fight algae".

So I just want to hear what everyone understands about how to keep algae from taking over their tanks and why, thanks!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

1 - 20 of 34 Posts

BettaBettas

· #2 · Feb 19, 2017

my cure for algae is two words...
Amano
Shrimp

huhu89151734

· #3 · Feb 19, 2017

My cure for algae is two words...

Water

Change

MCHRKiller

· #4 · Feb 19, 2017

My cure is....stop obsessing.

When I did high tech/CO2/EI I obsessed about algae constantly and ya know always had some of some sort. Now Ive switched all of my tanks to low light/no CO2/Flourish dosing and sure I have some green spot and brush algae but that is it. Obsessing for me...only made me not enjoy my tanks; when I stopped the madness I enjoy the tanks more and I have come to accept algae as part of a natural ecosystem.

Reactions: 1

BROMLaar

Discussion Starter · #5 · Feb 19, 2017

Algae isn't what bothers me, it's when algae is out of control. I'm fine with some algae because algae does make the tank look a little more natural but when algae becomes out of control then that's a problem. I don't obsess over stopping algae now but I used to and that was until I understood how things work and now it's not a problem and it actually for me it takes almost the same amount of work to run my high tech tanks as it does my low tech tanks. Of course just more trimming and more doing. That's all.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

MCHRKiller

· #6 · Feb 19, 2017

Out of control algae is usually caused by too much lighting....even with high levels of CO2 and dosing too much light is usually the problem. This is especially a problem with LEDs and T5HOs....those types of lighting is very intense and folks typically put too much of them on a tank.

BROMLaar

Discussion Starter · #7 · Feb 19, 2017

I don't have too much lighting on my high tech, the reason I used to get algae was because I was still learning and my tank was newly set up so it wasn't as established as it is now. Algae really started getting out of control when I got ick and I had to dose ick attach which is an herbal treatment so there was a little bit more ammonia than my filter was used to so more algae popped up and so I just took away one of my led bars for the duration of the treatment plus 2 weeks and soon after that I got the hang of it and algae is no longer a problem. And t5 and led is what most people use with no problems.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

GrampsGrunge

· #8 · Feb 19, 2017

I'm of the opinion that algae often times is opportunistic and gets a beachhead because things haven't quite biologically settled in. If your tank is under constant change of water chemistry because you're throwing a lot of different attempts to rectify the algae issue. Sometimes, ( not always..) the best approach is to go back a few steps or to slow down. Cut back the light, remove a few fish, let the tank stabilize, introduce some gentle algae cleaner crews. Etc.

The advantage that algae has over vascular plants is that it can quickly optimize fertilizer sources and light, while plants often don't have the quickness and flexibility to handle water that is changing in chemical make-up and begin growing quickly.

BROMLaar

Discussion Starter · #9 · Feb 19, 2017

Yeah that makes sense, I had the same thought when I was trying to fight algae because it seemed everything I do wasn't helping and then like you said I just stepped back and let things settle more and over time things got better!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

ed.junior

· #10 · Feb 19, 2017 (Edited)

If you start the discussion from the "algae combat" perspective, you are already in trouble. It is a valid point, but not the focus.

The point is growing plants. Tom Barr is known mostly for the ferts, but he researched a lot more than that. One key point I learned from him is that light is the driver of growth speed. It is very easy to use so much light that the other elements cannot keep up.

If things are out of balance (e.g. not enough CO2 for the light amount, not enough ferts) you will get algae.
But when plants thrive, algae does not. Easier said than done. You have to learn to grow your plants, and get good at it. When you can grow them, algae will not be an issue.

I have a small 60l tank, with more than 7000 lumens of light, and no algae. To be honest: a couple dots of GSA on the glass, but that's it. Nothing anywhere else. EI dosing (10 NO3, 10 K, 4 PO4, 0,2 Fe-EDTA 3× Week) and high levels of CO2 (1,4 pH drop). 75% weekly Water Change. Trimming is almost a daily task.Some fishes do not enjoy these CO2 levels, even with a lot of surface agitation (~500l/h).

The moss wall will take a while to fill...

Had I less light everything would be less extreme (e.g. Lots of light = lots of everything). A lot of light will just show the imbalance. You can get away with a lot of things by just dimming the lights down or putting them higher.

Plants have a big ideal range for ferts; CO2 gets way easier to adjust with a "normal" light intensity (~80 PAR, maybe less?). Start with light, add CO2 if you want (and make sure it is dissolved in the water) and add enough ferts. Keep filters clean and a decent circulation. Trim things now and them to avoid water getting "stagnated".

See less See more

Reactions: 3

jmccullough108

· #11 · Feb 20, 2017

No expert by any means, but I tend to have success with more frequent water changes, and a slight increase of the co2 (if the fish are handling it). I still struggle with some black beard, which I added a wave maker to help cure. Trying to be patient but otherwise, co2 has eliminated all other types of algae for me.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Freemananana

· #12 · Feb 20, 2017

Light. Always light. If you do regular water changes to keep your nitrates between 10 and 40ppm, light will limit your algae growth. CO2 is a variable that increased the amount of light you can have without algae growth. Limiting light will always limit algae growth. Dosing ferts and all that jazz is up to you. I've had great luck in plain tap water, weekly water changes (30-50% depending on tank to keep nitrates at 20ppm post water change), and low lighting. I always start lower and increase my photo period until I reach my desired photo period (approx. 8 hours is what I enjoy). If I see algae, I raise the lights to compensate.

I see people dump way too much par into tanks on a regular basic. The high tech aspect of planted tanks has never really been my thing. I periodically look into it again from time to time, but never jumped into pressurized CO2 and more than medium light. The growth rate of high tech tanks are a big turn off for me. I prefer less maintenance and more enjoyment. I just like watching the fish swim around.

See less See more

BROMLaar

Discussion Starter · #13 · Feb 20, 2017

ed.junior said:
If you start the discussion from the "algae combat" perspective, you are already in trouble. It is a valid point, but not the focus.

The point is growing plants. Tom Barr is known mostly for the ferts, but he researched a lot more than that. One key point I learned from him is that light is the driver of growth speed. It is very easy to use so much light that the other elements cannot keep up.

If things are out of balance (e.g. not enough CO2 for the light amount, not enough ferts) you will get algae.
But when plants thrive, algae does not.

If I sounded like I was discussing in the algae combat perspective then that's not what I was aiming for. I used to think of planted tanks as an algae combat zone lol but that's not until after I got the hang of things and like you said just getting good at growing plants and then I algae hasn't been an issue since, not one spec on the glass or on any plants and that's all I are about.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

ed.junior

· #14 · Feb 20, 2017

BROMLaar said:
If I sounded like I was discussing in the algae combat perspective then that's not what I was aiming for.

Not my intention to point a finger. I spent so much time fighting algae that it took me years to realise that I did not really know how to grow plants. Kind of stupid, but yeah. Funny thing is that when I started aiming at growing them the algae just died out. For the sake of learning, I used a lot of light, so I could learn faster, and see the results faster. I have to dose around 12ppm of phosphates weekly to keep GSA at bay, with 150+PAR at substrate.

Freemananana

· #15 · Feb 20, 2017

ed.junior said:
...with 150+PAR at substrate.

I see stuff like this a lot and people wonder why they have algae. :grin2: Not particularly you, but people often underestimate the demands of the lighting they have picked out. I just found this quite amusing. You're way over the necessary lighting demands for any plant. You will likely see faster growth though.

klibs

· #16 · Feb 20, 2017

ed.junior said:
If you start the discussion from the "algae combat" perspective, you are already in trouble. It is a valid point, but not the focus.

The point is growing plants. Tom Barr is known mostly for the ferts, but he researched a lot more than that. One key point I learned from him is that light is the driver of growth speed. It is very easy to use so much light that the other elements cannot keep up.

If things are out of balance (e.g. not enough CO2 for the light amount, not enough ferts) you will get algae.
But when plants thrive, algae does not. Easier said than done. You have to learn to grow your plants, and get good at it. When you can grow them, algae will not be an issue.

I have a small 60l tank, with more than 7000 lumens of light, and no algae. To be honest: a couple dots of GSA on the glass, but that's it. Nothing anywhere else. EI dosing (10 NO3, 10 K, 4 PO4, 0,2 Fe-EDTA 3× Week) and high levels of CO2 (1,4 pH drop). 75% weekly Water Change. Trimming is almost a daily task.Some fishes do not enjoy these CO2 levels, even with a lot of surface agitation (~500l/h).

The moss wall will take a while to fill...

Had I less light everything would be less extreme (e.g. Lots of light = lots of everything). A lot of light will just show the imbalance. You can get away with a lot of things by just dimming the lights down or putting them higher.

Plants have a big ideal range for ferts; CO2 gets way easier to adjust with a "normal" light intensity (~80 PAR, maybe less?). Start with light, add CO2 if you want (and make sure it is dissolved in the water) and add enough ferts. Keep filters clean and a decent circulation. Trim things now and them to avoid water getting "stagnated".

ding ding ding, thank you. great post here

know why this guy can run that much light and see 0 algae? look how densely planted that tank is. this tank is clearly in balance, there is no 'battling' algae. it simply does not grow in those conditions. if algae is invading your tank then you are NOT meeting these conditions. you should never have to 'fight' algae.

large volume / high density of healthy plants and good light (not too much...) is the key. that's really it.

ed.junior

· #17 · Feb 20, 2017

klibs said:
ding ding ding, thank you. great post here

know why this guy can run that much light and see 0 algae? look how densely planted that tank is. this tank is clearly in balance, there is no 'battling' algae. it simply does not grow in those conditions. if algae is invading your tank then you are NOT meeting these conditions. you should never have to 'fight' algae.

large volume / high density of healthy plants and good light (not too much...) is the key. that's really it.

Thanks for the kind words, really.

BROMLaar

Discussion Starter · #18 · Feb 20, 2017

ed.junior said:

That picture didn't show up before on my phone so I didn't see it till now, but that is a BEAUTIFUL tank! Nice job! Is that Dutch style?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Reactions: 1

ed.junior

· #19 · Feb 20, 2017

BROMLaar said:
That picture didn't show up before on my phone so I didn't see it till now, but that is a BEAUTIFUL tank! Nice job! Is that Dutch style?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No man, it is noob style. It is the best I could so far. Thanks

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Reactions: 2

BROMLaar

Discussion Starter · #20 · Feb 20, 2017

Lol what equipment are you using for that tank?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

1 - 20 of 34 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.